I drank milk every day with every meal my entire life. It wasn’t hard since my mom gave us the option of “milk or water, water or milk” when we asked for apple juice at dinner. Nevertheless, I wasn’t a water drinker until probably middle school.

Though I don’t find myself sitting down with a cold glass of milk often, sometimes it’s just exactly what I need. Water just doesn’t do it after a peanut butter sandwich. Birthday cake? A “snort” of milk, as my dad would say (definition of a “snort” in my house: about an inch or two of milk; probably a code word for a “shot” when we were too young to learn about alcohol measurements). And of course, the American classic: cookies with milk.

In Paris, there are amazing desserts and pastries on every block. But cookies don’t really exist here. I made Martha Stewart’s Chocolate Crackle Cookies this past weekend that screamed for a glass of milk. They were basically brownies disguised as cookies, and though no one can master my sister’s boyfriend’s brownies, these might become a regular occurrence.  They were just sweet enough to be called a dessert, but weren’t tooth-achingly sugary. They were slightly crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Plus, this recipe makes a ton! It makes 4 logs of dough, and 1 log makes about a dozen cookies. A good way to exercise at least some portion control (though it was hard to convince myself that these weren’t truffles that could be eaten raw).

cut into 1 inch pieces

Log of dough out of the fridge

Log of dough rolled out

This was my first experience baking in France, the land of measuring in weight as opposed to volume. This recipe converted really well, and after a few searches on the internet, here are my suggestions:

• 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate: I used 1 200 gram bar of Nestle Corsé chocolat noir. I added 2 teaspoons of sugar when I melted it in the double boiler (1/4 teaspoon for each ounce). It ended up being deliciously bittersweet.
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder: I used one packet of “levure chimique.”
• 1 stick of unsalted butter: about 113 grams
• 1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar: I did 1 1/3 cups of regular sugar, plus a heaping teaspoon of molasses. (It’s about 1 teaspoon of molasses for each cup of sugar. If your recipe calls for dark brown, it’s about 1 tablespoon per cup.)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract: I used a packet of sucre vanillé (comes in a similar packet as the baking powder).

Though American recipes calls for a bit more effort, this one is definitely a hit. Just don’t forget a snort of milk!

Recipe via Martha Stewart

double boiling

molasses

my decision to hand-mix

dusted…where could the 12th have possibly gone?!

dusted with sugar

cooked

cookie tower

tom with cookie